Related Experiment Videos
Decreased striatal dopamine-receptor binding in sporadic ALS: glutamate hyperactivity?
O J Vogels1, W J Oyen, B G van Engelen
1Department of Neurology, University Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Neurology
|April 24, 1999
Abstract:
The pathogenesis of ALS may be related to increased glutamatergic excitotoxicity. The striatum receives massive glutamatergic input. Animal studies suggest that glutamate decreases striatal D2-receptor synthesis. In drug-naive, sporadic ALS patients we demonstrated decreased striatal D2-receptor binding in vivo that could be partially reversed by the glutamatergic transmission blocker riluzole. Our findings support the glutamatergic excitotoxicity hypothesis in sporadic ALS.